Unusual Place of the Month: The Cathedral of Junk

The Cathedral of Junk is just what it sounds like: a bunch of junk built into the shape of a cathedral. It was started in 1988 by Vince Hannemann and has grown over the years through donations from people around both the city and the world. Nowadays, it contains over 60 tons of junk. A number of years ago the city of Austin, Texas, tried to shut it down, saying it was too much junk and a safety concern. (The neighbors thought it was an eyesore.) So Vince and an army of volunteers pared down the structure and brought it up to code so the site could stay open.

Last month when in Austin, I decided to visit because, well, Austin is weird, and what better to do in a weird city than see something weird?

It doesn’t take long to explore the Cathedral, and I found I spent most of my time talking to Vince, asking questions I’m sure he is sick of hearing and just watching people play with the junk. This site definitely lends itself to some fun for those with an active imagination.

Here are some pictures of the cathedral:

During my visit I found out that a lot of people come here with their kids; many were running all over the place and having a merry time playing make-believe. I found out that this place is really popular with locals because your kids will stay occupied for an hour or two.If you’re in Austin with your family, come here. Your kids will love it.

And if you are traveling without kids, come here anyway. You’ll still love it. I did.

You can visit the Cathedral of Junk at 4422 Lareina Drive, Austin, TX. Admission is free (donations are accepted), there are no set hours, and he isn’t open every day. With a set schedule, Austin would consider him an “official business” and then he would have to follow all sorts of rules, so you just have to hope for the best when you go.

My Books & Guides

My New Print Guide

My Other Awesome Books

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to keeping the site community supported and ad free.

That’s a seriously cool concept! I’m assuming that there are no actual religious ceremonies held here, which makes me think that he chose the name “Cathedral of Junk” purely because it sounds more grand than say, “House of Junk” – that kind of makes me like it even more.

Reminds me of the ruin bars in Budapest and Prague. There’s actually a push in a lot of Eastern European countries to recycle trash and discards – or so says a book I teach English with – and make them into art.

Coming-up with this junk cathedral was truly a unique idea. But when I look at all that stuff three questions come to mind: How safe is this thing? are those really old stuff that can’t b recycled and serve for better use? And how can this place be up to city code when it look like it can fall apart at any minute? I hope there a sign that reads ” enter at your own risk”.

There used to be a junkyard cafè in Balmain in Sydney. The chairs and tables were all from recycled goods and you were sitting amongst piles of crap that had been hoarded or dumped. You were never short of interesting things to catch your eye! And they made good coffee 🙂

I had read about this place before. How cool to see it back in your post now. I Love it and would love to see it with my own eyes, but I’m not likely to visit Austin. So I’m thankful for your post and pictures!

Great look at one of the many hidden gems in the city! (I am biased because I live here, but Austin is worth the visit!) Hopefully I’ll find some equally “weird” sights in New Zealand when I visit in July 🙂

Oh man I never would have expected to find this haha. It’s like the ultimate nightmare of someone with OCD. What an unusual way to organize (or..disorganize) junk. Very interesting though, thanks for sharing!

Hey everyone! Due to the age of this post and the difficulty in moderating lots of posts spam, comments here have been turned off. If you would like to continue the discussion, head over to the forums at http://forums.nomadicmatt.com and chat there! I post frequently and reply to threads on the boards! See ya there! Thanks! – Matt